An examination of sediment from piston cores and 3.5-kHz seismic reflection profiles from the northern Cape Basin and southern Angola Basin reveal a contrasting history of depositional processes in these adjacent basins. Pleistocene sedimentation in the southern Angola Basin was characterized by extensive deposition of turbidites and hemipelagic sediments derived primarily from the discharge of the Kunene River. Slumping of sediments and highly mobile debris flows have also contributed in the basinward transport of sediments in this region. In contrast, the northern Cape Basin can be characterized as a 'starved' basin. Because of the low coastal rainfall and extremely low level of river discharge, the marine sediments along this margin are essentially pelagic in origin. Slumps and slides have disrupted portions of the continental margin but the morphology of the slope is very smooth in contrast to the margin north of the Walvis Ridge where canyon cutting has played a major role. The low sedimentation rates in the northern Cape Basin in conjunction with a moderate to strong bottom-water circulation has resulted in an extensive erosional zone along the lower continental rise off southwest Africa. The effects of a changing climate (interglacia-glacial) on marine productivity and sedimentation are documented by the faunal and isotopic record in a piston core on the continental rise south of the Walvis Ridge.